Wireless networking is available to mobile users with higher (wireless local area network or WLAN) and lower (wireless wide area network or WWAN) bandwidth connections. Mobile terminals are available which could remain active as a user goes from areas where higher bandwidth connections are available to areas where lower bandwidth connections are available, or vice versa, or even as they dock in wired docking stations. These mobile terminals can be equipped with adapters for multiple types of network connections. However, switching from one network connection to another has typically required abandoning and re-establishing a network session.
Therefore, it is desirable to introduce methods and devices that support moving from one wireless network to another seamlessly, maintaining an established network session.
The present invention includes a method and device to support hand off of a session between a mobile terminal and a server, while continuing the session. One aspect of the invention is a method involving a first entity having an IP stack and a second entity having an IP stack. These entities support a hand off from one access technology to another, wherein the different access technologies are differentiated by a characteristic such as their physical layer. Particular aspects of the present invention are described in the claims, specification and drawings.